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Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea

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Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea
AuthorSarah Pinsker
LanguageEnglish
GenreSpeculative fiction
PublisherSmall Beer Press
Publication date
March 19, 2019
Publication placeUnited States
Pages304
AwardPhilip K. Dick Award
ISBN978-1-61873-155-5

Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea is a 2019 short story collection by Sarah Pinsker. It includes thirteen stories, each incorporating elements of speculative fiction, most notably science fiction and fantasy.

Contents

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  • "A Stretch of Highway Two Lanes Wide"
  • "And We Were Left Darkling" (originally published in Lightspeed, 2015[1])
  • "Remembery Day"
  • "Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea" (originally published in Lightspeed, 2016[2])
  • "The Low Hum of Her"
  • "Talking with Dead People"
  • "The Sewell Home for the Temporally Displaced"
  • "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind" (originally published in Strange Horizons, 2013[3])
  • "No Lonely Seafarer" (originally published in Lightspeed, 2014[4])
  • "Wind Will Rove"
  • "Our Lady of the Open Road"
  • "The Narwhal"
  • "And Then There Were (N-One)" (originally published in Uncanny Magazine, 2017[5])

Themes

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Several critics noted the atmosphere of loss, nostalgia, music and reinvention throughout the collection.[6][7] Gary K. Wolfe, in a review for Locus, wrote that memory "may be [Pinsker's] characteristic theme".[8] Publishers Weekly wrote that "In all of Pinsker’s tales, humans grapple with their relationships to technology, the supernatural, and one another."[9] Michelle Anne Schingler of Foreword Reviews observed that yearning was integral to many of the stories in the collection.[10]

Many of the protagonists of the stories in some way rebel against or break the norms of their society.[11] Many stories feature characters whose communities have been displaced in some way,[12] and the impact of social and technological change on culture is a recurring theme.[13] Kirkus Reviews wrote that "Pinsker’s characters are often loners dedicated to idiosyncratic artistic pursuits".[11]

The collection also prominently features LGBT characters,[9] and many of its themes tie into gender and sexuality. Alexander Carrigan of Lambda Literary noted that "Pinsker presents characters who are all over the LGBT+ spectrum, and in many cases, it allows for further reading and exploration of each story’s themes and characters."[14]

Reception

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The collection received critical acclaim, and was given starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Foreword Reviews, and Booklist.[9][15] It won the 2020 Philip K. Dick Award,[16] and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award—Collection, losing to Brian Evenson's Song for the Unraveling of the World.[17]

The collection was included in B&N Reads list of "The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of March 2019".[18] It also appeared on lists of the best books of 2019 by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,[19] Fantasy & Science Fiction,[20] and BuzzFeed.[21]

References

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  1. ^ Wagner, Wendy (2015-08-18). "And We Were Left Darkling". Lightspeed Magazine. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  2. ^ Wagner, Wendy (2016-02-16). "Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea". Lightspeed Magazine. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  3. ^ words, Sarah Pinsker Issue: 1 July 2013 4027 (2013-07-01). "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind (Part 1 of 2)". Strange Horizons. Retrieved 2023-03-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Wagner, Wendy (2014-09-02). "No Lonely Seafarer". Lightspeed Magazine. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  5. ^ Words, Sarah Pinsker in Uncanny Magazine Issue Fifteen | 23786. "And Then There Were (N-One)". Uncanny Magazine. Retrieved 2023-03-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "SOONER OR LATER EVERYTHING FALLS INTO THE SEA". The Arkansas International. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  7. ^ "Book Review: Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker #20BooksofSummer". Way Too Fantasy. 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  8. ^ "Gary K. Wolfe Reviews Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker". Locus Online. 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  9. ^ a b c "Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  10. ^ "Review of Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea". www.forewordreviews.com. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  11. ^ a b SOONER OR LATER EVERYTHING FALLS INTO THE SEA | Kirkus Reviews.
  12. ^ "Sooner or Later Sarah Pinsker Breaks Your Heart and Puts It Back Together All Weird". Fiction Unbound. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  13. ^ Carroll, Tobias (April 1, 2019). "Where Futurism Meets the Liminal: The Short Fiction of Sarah Pinsker". Tor.com.
  14. ^ Carrigan, Alexander (2019-05-06). "'Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea' by Sarah Pinsker". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  15. ^ Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea, by By Sarah Pinsker. | Booklist Online.
  16. ^ Liptak, Andrew (2020-04-11). "Sarah Pinsker's Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea Wins the 2020 Philip K. Dick Award". Tor.com. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  17. ^ "sfadb: World Fantasy Awards 2020". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  18. ^ "The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of March 2019". B&N Reads. 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  19. ^ Higgins, Jim. "Best books of 2019: Jim Higgins' picks include 'One Day,' '10 Minutes 38 Seconds' and 'When Life Gives You Pears'". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  20. ^ "Fantasy and Science Fiction: Books To Look For by Charles de Lint". www.sfsite.com. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  21. ^ Rebolini, Arianna. "37 Spring Books To Get Excited About". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2023-03-02.